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| Sunday, 15 August 2004 |
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| News Business Features Editorial
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Govt. perturbed over camp reports Eastern Corridor by Rashomi Silva The government last week appeared to be perturbed over the build-up of some rebel camps near the Trincomalee harbour in government-held territory when Cabinet Spokesperson Minister Mangala Samaraweera said the reports, if correct, would put "a certain amount of strain on the peace process". According to reports, there are about 13 rebel camps in the Foul Point near the Trinco Naval base and the harbour. The government has lodged a formal complaint with the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission which is carrying out preliminary investigations. The LTTE seems to have well understood the line of thinking of the Southern political parties as well as the media and the public when they succeeded in creating confusion in Colombo and leaving the Southern political parties pointing accusing fingers at each other, over the development. A senior military official who cannot be named said the build-up of a few bunkers, in actual sense, can have no real effect on national security. "What they really want to do is to create chaos in the South. "They discovered the power they have when they virtually toppled the previous government over the issue of Manirasakulam and a few more bunkers near Trinco harbour," he said. According to the official who spoke on the condition of anonymity, the issue is handled best when it is left at the hands of the area Commanders, who are conversant in these affairs. "They (the Area Commanders) will inform the SLMM. The SLMM, security forces and the LTTE should be allowed to settle the matter without national level leaders or politicians meddling with it. The Manirasakulam bunker was little more than a thatched hut, but it was able to create political instability in the South. We must not repeat the blunders of the past," he pointed out. If the LTTE is bent on creating political instability in the South, the fractional fighters in the East are making life in the East really edgy. Amidst uneasy peace prevailing in the East, eight more deaths were added to the killing scores last week. The latest violence was reported from the Eravur Police Division on Friday, when bodies of two youths were discovered on the Batticaloa-Valachchenai road. According to sources, the youths were chained and shot at close range. The East has not only turned into a killing field, but also into a land of spies. Eastern Army sources say the LTTE campaign to collect details about dissidents and Karuna loyalists continue with ferocity. The LTTE has moved closer to the government-held areas while Karuna loyalists prefer to remain inside deep jungles. But whenever two rival cadres meet, a confrontation is sure to ensue, a military official from the East said. |
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